Surpassing Shahid Afridi and MS Dhoni, Pakistani stalwart Shoaib Malik becomes first to play 100 T20Is. The Pakistani player, who is known for excellent skills in limited overs cricket, also became the third player to score 2000 T20I runs while playing T20I vs Zimbabwe in tri-series. On the occasion, his wife and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza shared a special message for Malik on her official Twitter handle.

Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik becomes the first player on this planet to play 100 T20I’s, surpassing his teammate Shahid Afridi who had played 99 T20I and MS Dhoni who had played 90 matches. In yet another achievement under his belt, Pakistani stalwart Malik also became the third cricketer to score 2000 T20I runs while playing the first T20I of tri-series vs Zimbabwe, others who have achieved this mark are Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill. On this occasion, his wife and Indian tennis star Sania Mirza congratulated him and shared a special tweet on her official handle. To congratulate Shoaib Malik, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) tweeted, “Congratulations Shoaib Malik on becoming the first cricket to play 100 T20I’s.”

According to International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings, Pakistan is the No. 1 team in the world. Pakistan’s new captain Sarfaraz Ahmed has helped his team to maintain team’s performance in cricket’s shortest game.

At present, Pakistani team is playing tri-series against Australia and Zimbabwe. However, Australia beat Pakistan in the 2nd second game of Tri-series as the Kangaroos managed to bowl out Pakistan at 117.

In an easy chase, the Australians didn’t give a chance to Pakistan to come back in the game as opener Aaron Finch scored 68 runs off 33 balls with a strike rate of more than 200. After a disappointed English tour, the Australian team would try to regain its form in tri-series.

With an average of 31.36, Shoaib Malik is known for his all-round skills in limited overs cricket. 36-year-old Malik has also played 261 matches for Pakistan and represented his team in 36 Test matches. The Pakistani player had earlier announced that he will get retired from the 50-overs game after 2019 World Cup. However, Pakistani all-rounder said his plan to get retire from T20s would depend upon his fitness.